Inspiration for Leaders

Thursday, May 31, 2012

A well known speaker in education circles and one of the
"10 Most Influential People in Ed Tech for 2011" kicked off the
LHRIC's annual Tech Expo held at the Edith Macy Conference Center in Briarcliff
Manor April 27.

David Warlick,
the author of four books on instructional technology and contemporary literacy,
and a sought-after speaker throughout the world, gave a thought-provoking
presentation on the emerging new information environment titled, "Cracking
the 'Native' Information Experience."

Mr. Warlick, a former teacher, recalled a time when the
desktop computer had not yet been invented and when calculators cost
approximately $200. "I taught in an information-scarce learning
environment," said Mr. Warlick, adding that the new technology available
today has empowered students to perform better and to accomplish more.

"Today's environment is abundant with knowledge, is
networked and digital and has a direct impact on what it means to be literate
today," he said.

"Cracking the code" on the environment that young
people exist in outside of school and using that to develop new learning
experiences inside the classroom is something that Mr. Warlick strongly
advocates. Hyper-connected learners, he said, find each other and then share
their knowledge, ideas and skills, turning them into what he described as
"responsive learning."

Society, he said, is very much in tune with the responsive
learning experience. "Google has turned us into a question-asking
culture," noted Mr. Warlick, adding that there is a real sense of
connection between people and learning through conversation. This generation of
learners wants to know the rules that exist in order to reach their goals.
"In the traditional classroom, we never did that. We need to approach
these children in their native information environment."

An example of how students can invest themselves in the
learning process, said Mr. Warlick, occurred when a teacher at Beacon High School,
a progressive public high school in New
York City, had a problem getting her students
interested in Shakespeare's play, Othello. The solution: ask them to create a
movie trailer based on their understanding of the play and then get other students,
presumably those who will be studying the play in the future, interested in it.

Mr. Warlick said the purpose of school has changed.
"Part of the native information experience means that students often
succeed best by getting it wrong," he added. In fact, students should be
thinking about what they did and then considering how they might change it.

In many ways, he added, it's about making formal learning
more playful and giving students permission to make those mistakes. "It is
a learning experience that is responsive, that provokes conversation, inspires
personal investment and is guided by safely-made mistakes."

This, added Mr. Warlick, is requiring educators to rethink
education. "It's not a race to the top; it's about being joyful,
explorative, discovering information, and being inventive. Sometimes that can
be as simple as the teacher who says, 'surprise me'."

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

A science teacher and a technology director from a school district
that also received recognition were among those honored at the LHRIC's 19th
Annual Pioneer Awards May 18, which was held at the Edith Macy Conference Center
in Briarcliff Manor.

Each year the award ceremony recognizes individuals who have
gone above and beyond in exposing students to the latest instructional
technology initiatives. It also honors districts that are forward-thinking in
their delivery of technology.

The ceremony culminates a year-long series of presentations
by well known speakers in the field of educational technology, as part of the
RIC's Technology Leadership Institute series.

Science teacher Jasper Fox was the first recipient of the Distinguished
Technology Teacher Pioneer Award. He teaches general science and a Regents
Earth Science class at Copper Beech Middle School in the Lakeland School District.
As a teacher, Mr. Fox knows that some students have difficulty completing their
assignments, so he created screen casts of the science experiments he would normally
do in class using screen capture software. In the past year, Mr. Fox has posted
a myriad of screen casts to the class wiki, which his
students can readily access.

Mr. Fox has created a learning environment in education known
as the "flip classroom." It's a new way of teaching, he said, one
that has transformed the practice for many instructors, allowing them to become
coaches and facilitators rather than just instructors delivering a lecture.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Fox thanked administrators and
others in the district for their guidance and support. "My students are not
only gaining the skills to be successful, but are gaining additional 21st
century study skills," he said.

Mr. Fox also credited the online social networking service
Twitter for inspiring him and allowing him to communicate with other
like-minded instructors. "This whole initiative started out as a way to
provide extra help for my students," he said. "But it has now warped
into something way more powerful than that."

The City School District of New Rochelle had the honor of
accepting two awards during the hour-long ceremony. Director of Technology Dr.
Christine Coleman was singled out for bringing mobile learning to the district.
For that, she was awarded the Distinguished Director of Technology Pioneer
Award.

For the past year and a half, Dr. Coleman has invested much energy
in the "Mobile
on the Go!" program, a Federal Communications Committee-funded grant,
which involved collaboration with Verizon, the RIC and Carrot App. Referring to
her can-do attitude and persistence, New Rochelle Superintendent Richard
Organisciak praised Dr. Coleman for her efforts. "We as a district are
very proud of the ideas and creativity from people like Dr. Coleman," he
said.

The initiative has helped raise achievement levels among
participating students and has closed the digital divide, said Dr. Coleman.
Looking for ways to prepare its students for the 21st century
workplace, the New Rochelle
City School
District has made incredible strides over the
past year. Since winning the FCC grant, it has deployed over a thousand
mobile-filtered devices to students. As a result, the Pioneer Awards committee
felt it was deserving of this year's Distinguished District Pioneer Award.

According to Dr. Coleman, students participating in the
mobile learning program are displaying an improvement in reading, writing and
literacy, and the formal structure of the classroom has "flipped,"
creating an environment where they now work in clusters as opposed to working
alone, and where engagement and interactivity are the primary goals.

The district's Board of Education president, Chrisanne
Petrone, was equally delighted with the honor. "We know that our district
is amazing, and we also know that all of our children can learn, but we must
continue to ensure that we provide them with the tools to keep them learning,"
said Ms. Petrone.